Catchpole

It was already evening when we returned to the Malfoy Manor.

The House Elf Lele prepared a sumptuous dinner, and Skylar and his family of four enjoyed their meal together, chatting and laughing.

Skylar could truly sense that although Narcissa was outwardly dissatisfied with his decision to welcome and host Andromeda, and even criticized Skylar a few times at the dinner table, Skylar was actually fully aware of the deep gratitude hidden in Narcissa's eyes. Skylar's actions had saved her from having to personally kick her own sister out.

Sigh, in the end, it's about true blood ties. It's easy to say, but how can you sever them so easily?

Of course, Skylar kept these thoughts to himself.

Another interesting observation is that Lucius's occasional furtive glances at himself seemed to contain a mixture of disbelief and...

Feelings of guilt?

This discovery is quite interesting. Skylar isn't a fool; he could hide Draco's unusual behavior from Narcissa, but he couldn't possibly hide it from his shrewd father. It seems Lucius was aware of what was happening to Draco, and might even feel some guilt towards him. Skylar, unaware of the matter of the Patriarchal position, directly interpreted these subtle actions as a scheme by Lucius and Draco to achieve their ideal of Pure-blood Supremacy.

Having finally returned home, Skylar didn't want to rush back to school.

But there are still 7 days until school starts, and he can't stay home every day. Daphne and the others are still at school. In fact, because of the Yule Ball, most of his friends are still at school. Among his friends, it seems that only one person has chosen to go home for the Christmas holidays like him.

Luna Lovegood.

Not long before this semester, Luna had been recruited into the Sleeping Dragon Society by Cho Chang, but Luna is not good at expressing herself, which is why she seems a bit aloof to outsiders.

Many people misunderstand Luna, thinking she's crazy, eccentric, indifferent to others' opinions, unrealistic, and prone to fantasy.

Ultimately, she was just a girl who witnessed her mother's death at a young age and whose emotions were never properly addressed by her unreliable father. The isolation of the wizarding world, which prevented her from interacting with her peers, exacerbated this situation.

After her mother passed away, she became depressed and lost, but no one told her what to do, no one taught her how to properly express and vent her emotions, and she didn't even have the opportunity to clearly express her feelings. From then on, she built up many defenses and hid her truest emotions.

In her first year at school, her unique aura created a strong sense of alienation and discomfort among the students. The young wizards reacted honestly—isolated and distanced themselves from her. Luna must have gone through a dark period; she must have experienced feelings of inferiority and depression. However, she held fast to her inner kindness, and it was this kindness and perseverance that finally allowed her to rebound from the depths of despair. She learned to be strong.

She no longer cared about others' ridicule, nor even their bullying. She decided to simply be herself, to believe only in her own values, and she believed—

Being unconventional and going your own way is simply a sign of Champion daring to face the world as their true self.

Then, in her second year of school, on a train, oh my god, she had the good fortune to meet Skylar, something she never dared to even dream of.

Skylar's gentle and friendly attitude easily won her friendship; he was arguably the first person, besides her family, to truly enter her life and her inner world.

Luna's appreciation for friendship is evident from the sketch hanging in her room—it depicts Skylar, Daphne, Meredith, Astoria, and herself, the five of them eating Dirigible Plum together in the slanting sunlight, each one smiling so brightly.

When she learned that Meredith was missing and her whereabouts unknown, no one knew how heartbroken and sorrowful she was in a secluded corner. She simply remained silent.

When she learned that Cho Chang was recruiting members for a mysterious organization for Skylar, she joined without hesitation. She could see that Skylar and she were similar in some ways—both people who valued emotions highly. Regardless of what others thought of him, his feelings for Meredith were genuine, and he would definitely try to save her. Therefore, he needed all the help he could get!

Returning to Skylar hadn't forgotten the bloodline talent he'd sensed in Luna —an aura very close to nature, a magical quality that evoked a sense of purity and tranquility. At that time, Skylar had already considered recruiting Luna.

Now that Luna has joined the Sleeping Dragon Society, she is, in a sense, his subordinate. As the de facto leader of the organization, it is his duty to care for his subordinate and enhance communication and understanding between them. Putting aside the fact that Luna herself is very likely to possess extremely valuable bloodline talents, Skylar cannot deny that this somewhat ethereal and dreamlike girl actually holds a special place in his heart.

It wasn't love, not the kind of touching emotion between a man and a woman; but it wasn't simple friendship either. At least, every time Skylar saw Luna, a soft spot in his heart would be touched. Perhaps Luna represented the freedom that Skylar truly wanted to obtain!

So he used the fastest owl in his house to send a letter to Luna, saying that he planned to visit her.

Luna replied quickly; Devon and Wiltshire are not too far apart, and the reply was received that same day.

The next morning, after telling his family what he wanted, Skylar sprinkled some Floo Powder into the fireplace, shouted "Lovegood House," and thus arrived at Luna's living room.

Luna's home is in Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon, England, a village inhabited by both wizards and Muggle. The magical community was established after the signing of the International Statute of Secrecy in the 17th century. Nearby wizarding families include the Weasley, Fawcett family, Diggory family, and Lovegood family.

The Diggory family and Weasley families had a relatively good relationship; both heads of the household worked at the Ministry of Magic, and while neither was a high-ranking official, they managed to get by. The Fawcett family, however, had truly fallen on hard times, as evidenced by their inability to even buy tickets to the Quidditch World Cup held in their home country.

Speaking of the Fawcett family, although they are relatively unknown, Skylar was quite familiar with their only daughter, Skyler Fawcett. Skyler was a minor celebrity at Hogwarts, and she was also known for causing trouble. During Harold Dingo's peeping incident in the girls' restroom at the end of last term, it was Skyler who chased after Dingo relentlessly, beating him until he had a black eye and a swollen face.

Later, during the Goblet of Fire registration ceremony, she and Summers of Hufflepuff actually tried to register over the Age Line before the Weasley Twins. As a result, they were thrown out of the line and grew white beards. For a long time, their names were the laughing stock of Hogwarts.

Her "glorious deeds" weren't over yet. Just a few days earlier, on the night of the Yule Ball, she and her Hufflepuff boyfriend, Stebbins, dared to do something intimate in the rose bushes outside the Great Hall! Their attempt at intimacy backfired, as they bumped into Snape and Karkaroff discussing confidential matters. Both Snape and Karkaroff lost ten points from their respective houses, and Skyler became the subject of much ridicule and mockery.

What's particularly puzzling is that, despite both Skyler and Luna being Ravenclaw students, with Skyler being three years ahead of Luna, and their families living so close together, they never interacted, and Skyler never showed any special consideration to her neighbor at school.

Let's get back to Skylar.

The layout of Luna's living room was similar to the tent I visited during the Quidditch World Cup.

First of all, Luna's house looks like a rook from Wizarding Chess; it's a long, thin, round, cylindrical house with a Winky stream running in front of it, stretching all the way into the valley.

Just by looking at it from the outside, you can imagine what the style inside is like.

The room was a small, circular space divided into several levels, connected by a wrought-iron spiral staircase. The first level after entering through the main door was the kitchen, and the next level was the living room, where Skylar was currently located. This was also Luna's father's office. Above that, presumably, were the father and daughter's bedrooms.

Because Luna's father also worked here, the place was somewhat cluttered; in fact, the piles of books, magazines, and papers made it look a bit like a maze. Exquisite animal models, unfamiliar to Skylar, hung from the ceiling, flapping their wings or moving their mouths. A bust of a woman was prominently displayed; Skylar recognized her immediately—it was a bust of Rowena the Grey Lady.

Skylar met Luna and her father, Xenophilius Lovegood, a middle-aged man with a full beard and cotton-candy-like white hair. He wore a pale yellow robe, the color of which was dazzling. Around his neck hung a gold chain with a strange symbol that looked like a triangular eye.

"Luna, Mr. Lovegood, greetings," Skylar stepped forward and greeted them politely, then took an Erumpent from his pocket. "This is a small gift; please accept it, Mr. Lovegood."

A look of delight flashed in Xenophilius's eyes, and he quickly took it. "Ah! This is the horn of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack! Luna, look, Daddy didn't lie to you, did he? It really exists!"

Luna gazed at the horn with a dreamy look, then couldn't resist reaching out to touch it. Skylar had tampered with the horn, weakening its magic considerably. If fate still forced the Harry Potter trio to visit Erumpent's Lovegood family, the horn wouldn't blow Luna's home to rubble again.

Xenophilius quickly made a reasonably comfortable seat for Skylar, then asked Luna to prepare drinks, and began to chat with Skylar at length—well, to be precise, he was the one talking and Skylar was the one listening.

Xenophilius, holding a magazine with the title "The Quibbler" on the cover, launched into a long explanation to Skylar: "Nargle and Wrackspurt are my least favorite magical creatures; they bring destruction and misfortune." Xenophilius with a serious expression, "I suspect that the current Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, is plagued by either of these magical creatures."

"Huh?" Skylar could still talk to Luna, but he found that he had nothing in common with Xenophilius. Sure enough, his imagination wasn't big enough.

"Fudge is secretly training an army of fire spirits— the Heliopath —definitely influenced by the Nargle and the Wrackspurt," Xenophilius said casually. "That's why I wrote about it in 'The Quibbler,' hoping he won't make the same mistake again."

Skylar listened to it as anecdotes, since he didn't like Fudge anyway. But from Xenophilius's perspective, it had been a long time since anyone had been willing to listen to his endless ramblings. Skylar was a very rare listener for him, ever since his wife Pandora... Thinking of Pandora, Xenophilius couldn't help but tear up again. He apologized and took his leave to return to his dormitory.

"Dad must be thinking of Mom. He always looks like this whenever he thinks of her..." Luna's eyes rarely showed a hint of sadness as she said softly, "Mom was a master spellcaster, specializing in creating or improving new spells. She was a very unusual witch; she especially loved experimenting. One day, one of her spells went terribly wrong, and I lost her. I was nine years old that year."

"I'm sorry," Skylar said softly.

"Yes, it was really cruel back then," Luna said sincerely. "I still feel sad about it sometimes. But I still have my dad. And it's not like I'll never see my mom again, right?"

"Yes, I believe you will see her again," Skylar replied.

"Hmm." Luna looked intently at Skylar with her bright eyes, then smiled innocently. "Speaking of which, Daddy likes you a lot!"

The two spent a few days in the Ottery St. Catchpole (Skylar did go home during this time, but he did not stay overnight at Luna's house). Luna took Skylar to catch light Plimpy in a stream near the Gully Bridge, and then made fish soup, which tasted quite good. Skylar spent a few leisurely days like this.

Lovegood family also had a large collection of books, mostly Luna's mother Pandora's Spell Notes. Pandora was an excellent spell master who had created many unique spells, and even Miranda Gossack, the author of the Standard Book of Spells, had publicly expressed her admiration for her. Her spell-creating notes were quite inspiring for Skylar.

Seeing Skylar carefully perusing Pandora's notebooks, Luna, with Xenophilius's permission, gave the entire set of notebooks to Skylar.

[Pandora's Spell Notes obtained!]

Time passed day by day.

January 4th arrived quickly, and Hogwarts started its new school year.